solipsistnation, could you try the Wii version of Mario Kart (if you have a Wii)? Since it's motion control there aren't too many buttons to learn.

Y'know, we DO have a Wii hanging out in the closet, unloved and lonely thanks to the pitiful lack of decent games for it.

We don't have a big TV, though, just a couple of computer monitors (one of which is hosting the Xbox, which is also pretty unloved these days). That's a good suggestion, though, and the virtual console on there has some old-school games that could be worth investigating. Perhaps this weekend I'll haul it out and see if we can hook it up in such a way that the baby won't eat it or anything.

When I first got an iphone, I played Oregon Trail on it like it was what it was intended for. I loved that game in middle school! And Odell Lake? Something like that. No one else I know remembers that it even existed, but those were the only 2 games on our school computers at the time.

solipsistnation, could you try the Wii version of Mario Kart (if you have a Wii)? Since it's motion control there aren't too many buttons to learn.

Y'know, we DO have a Wii hanging out in the closet, unloved and lonely thanks to the pitiful lack of decent games for it.

We don't have a big TV, though, just a couple of computer monitors (one of which is hosting the Xbox, which is also pretty unloved these days). That's a good suggestion, though, and the virtual console on there has some old-school games that could be worth investigating. Perhaps this weekend I'll haul it out and see if we can hook it up in such a way that the baby won't eat it or anything.

The Wii is way easier for little hands. My partner is suuuuuper into video games, so it was inevitable that Iz would start playing at a young age. At first, everything was pretty difficult for him, but it didn't take long before he got the hang of it. Kids pick up technology SO FAST. He is almost five now, and he can out-play any non-gamer adult. I found that Super Mario for the Wii was excellent. Easy enough concept for him to grasp, basically no reading required. It was fun and easy for him to try over and over, and both of us parents could help him when he got frustrated.

_________________when you realise how perfect everything is, you will tilt you head back and laugh at the sky. -buddha

When I first got an iphone, I played Oregon Trail on it like it was what it was intended for. I loved that game in middle school! And Odell Lake? Something like that. No one else I know remembers that it even existed, but those were the only 2 games on our school computers at the time.

Odell Lake! With the fish and stuff!

Ah yeah, Apple IIe time-- setting up in the middle school cafeteria and playing educational games instead of playing outside at recess... And thus my future life was shaped.

We had a computer since I was pretty little. My mom even taught me some basic programming when I was three or four years old. (Basically, I could make the computer add two numbers, or print my name, or print my name in an endless loop.) There was also a program called KinderComp that had a few different "press buttons on the keyboard to make pretty lights and sounds" games. I also liked Ms. PacMan.

i totally got sucked down a rabbit hole reading about Oregon Trail. i had totally forgotten about that game, and my husband, who's a video game designer had never heard of it! so we just spent the last hour or so googling it and looking at the new versus old versions. and then i remembered myst, and this game about the brazilian rainforest.

I was all excited a couple of months ago when I discovered there is a version of Bard's Tale for Android. I still have old 5 1/4 floppies stored in a box at my sister's house. Bet there are some nice graph-paper maps in there too.

I got all nostalgic a few years ago and found an old Apple ][ simulator and played Alice in Wonderland and Castle Smurfenstein. And Lode Runner. I tried playing Choplifter and some centipede-themed arcade game that I can't remember the name of, but I still suck at those.

One of my friends had a Barbie game (I can't remember whether it was for the Commodore 64 or for Atari) where you had to get Barbie ready for a date with Ken, and pick out clothes and accessories and a hairstyle and makeup. If you didn't put together an outfit within a certain amount of time, Ken would drive away without Barbie.

One of my friends had a Barbie game (I can't remember whether it was for the Commodore 64 or for Atari) where you had to get Barbie ready for a date with Ken, and pick out clothes and accessories and a hairstyle and makeup. If you didn't put together an outfit within a certain amount of time, Ken would drive away without Barbie.

This is cracking me up. My husband says I take too long to get ready, too, but we don't have a car, so he can't drive away without me. ;D

The other day I said something about wanting to someday finish playing Skyrim and E looked at me and said, all but rolling his eyes, "mama, YOU don't play video games."

Ha ha ha kid, you would not even believe how much time I spent playing video games before you ruined that for me!

Doesn't Skyrim literally never end? I have so much hate for that stupid game and the hours my husband spends transferring his homemade apple-cabbage soup over to his fake wife Uthgerd for her to carry.

And especially pre-V, my husband and I would fall asleep (unintentionally) in front of the TV a lot, just because we were both tired. We don't have one in our bedroom, but I have no idea what's so bad about letting my cat sleep in the room if he wants to sleep there.

Doesn't Skyrim literally never end? I have so much hate for that stupid game and the hours my husband spends transferring his homemade apple-cabbage soup over to his fake wife Uthgerd for her to carry.

Not really, but it does have a lot of stuff to do. I think I played it for a good 120 hours and hit maybe 2/3 of the total quests, and then they released some expansions.

You can finish the main quest line, but that's not really the point of the game-- it's one of the purest open-world games out there, with all kinds of stuff to do and explore.

Thank you! I knew I wasn't crazy. Some sort of bird or something would just swoop down out of the sky and steal the fish, right? An Osprey?

Ahhhhh! I loved that game and couldn't figure out what it was called! And then sometimes when you'd dive down to escape the osprey you didn't dive far enough and it would still get you! Or you'd try to eat a fish and it would eat you instead!

Thank you! I knew I wasn't crazy. Some sort of bird or something would just swoop down out of the sky and steal the fish, right? An Osprey?

Ahhhhh! I loved that game and couldn't figure out what it was called! And then sometimes when you'd dive down to escape the osprey you didn't dive far enough and it would still get you! Or you'd try to eat a fish and it would eat you instead!

Okay, now that I have reinforcement that this is an actual game, not a figment of my imagination, can someone please turn it into an app?

i totally got sucked down a rabbit hole reading about Oregon Trail. i had totally forgotten about that game, and my husband, who's a video game designer had never heard of it! so we just spent the last hour or so googling it and looking at the new versus old versions. and then i remembered myst, and this game about the brazilian rainforest.

man, my misspent youth... haha

The Amazon Trail (this is how I know my rainforest birds)!! And we had the Yukon Trail too.

Urgh...we haven't watched TV in over a week but last night I had insomnia and didn't get to sleep until 3am. Of course guineapiglet was up at her usual 7am time and I was beyond exhausted. The ipad was sitting right next to the bed so I pulled up Dora La Exploradora and Plaza Sesamo and let her watch them both in bed with me while I grabbed an extra hour of much needed sleep. I woke up to her saying "Dora" and scrolling down the list of videos to decide which one to watch next. Geesh they pick up this stuff so fast. I swear if I would have given her an extra 5 minutes she would have been on itunes buying a new season, ha ha. She protested for about 4 seconds when I said it was time to go down for breakfast but thankfully now the morning of TV is forgotten.